Historical Focus on Race

Floyd Flake

Educator, clergyman, and elected official -- served in U.S.House of Representatives, was president of Wilberforce University, and serves as Senior Pastor of AME Church in Queens, NY.

Date of Interview:

Wednesday, February 6, 2002

Charlottesville, VA – University of Virginia

Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake distinguished himself as a leading proponent of the policies that make local community and economic development more achievable.

A Congressman and a pastor, Flake represented his New York district as a Democrat in the U.S. Congress from 1987 to 1997. Today, Flake is Senior Pastor of the Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in Queens, New York, where he has served since 1976. Under Flake's leadership, the church has become a model for faith-based development across the country.

In 2003, Flake was inaugurated as the eighteenth president of Wilberforce University in Ohio, where he himself graduated in 1968. Previously, Flake had served as dean of students at Lincoln University and university chaplain at Boston University as well as Director of the Martin Luther King Jr., Afro-American Center at Boston University from 1973 to 1976. He has served on numerous boards and committees including The Princeton Review, the NYC 2012 Olympic Committee, and The New York City Investment Fund Civic Capital Corporation.

Flake's educational background includes a Doctorate of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, as well as honorary degrees from such institutions as Boston University, Fisk University, Lincoln University, and Cheney State. Flake has also authored a a column for the New York Post and a best-selling book, The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams.